8th Engineer Brigade (8 Eng Bde) is an engineering support formation of the British Army, which forms part of

1st (United Kingdom) Division The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st (United Kingdom) Armoured Division and the 1st Division, is a division of the British Army. Divisional history (1809–1959) The 1st Division was formed following the disbandment o ...

History

In August 2001, Headquarters Royal Engineers, Theatre Troops was established as a subdivision of HQ Theatre Troops based in

Upavon Upavon is a rural village and civil parish in the county of Wiltshire, England. As its name suggests, it is on the upper portion of the River Avon which runs from north to south through the village. It is on the north edge of Salisbury Plain ...

. On 1 April 2005, the headquarters was redesignated as part of the LANDmark review as 8th Force Engineer Brigade and subsequently took control of the three engineer groups: 12th (Air Support), 29th (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search), and 170th (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Groups. The new brigade's headquarters was also based at Upavon, now at

Trenchard Lines Royal Air Force Upavon or RAF Upavon is a former RAF station in Wiltshire, England. It was a grass airfield, military flight training school, and administrative headquarters of the Royal Air Force. The station opened in 1912 and closed in ...

.Watson & Rinaldi, p. 266 As part of the

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

reorganisation following the

Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010. The previous major review of UK defence strateg ...

, HQ Theatre Troops was redesignated as

Force Troops Command Force Troops Command was a combat support and combat service support command of the British Army. Its headquarters was at Upavon, Wiltshire. It was formed in 2013 as a re-designation of the previous Headquarters Theatre Troops. Force Troops Comma ...

, while the brigade headquarters was moved to Gibraltar Barracks in Minley and subsequently took control of 25th (Close Support) Engineer Group. However, in 2016 as part of the subsequent

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reacti ...

changes, 25 Engineer Group was moved under direct control of

3rd (United Kingdom) Division The 3rd (United Kingdom) Division is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as th ...

. Consequently, two regiments of 25 Engineer Group; 32nd and 35th Engineer Regiments were moved under 12 Engineer Group. In August 2020, a reorganisation of the

Field Army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, Air army, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, ...

, the brigade was moved under control of

. The Brigade has been also regionally aligned with the South Asian region as part of defence engagement.

Structure

The current structure of the brigade as of November 2021 is as follows:Army 2020 Update
* Headquarters, 8th Engineer Brigade, at Gibraltar Barracks, Minley ** 8th Engineer Brigade Combat Information Systems (CIS) Troop,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is head ...

(V), at

Aldershot Garrison Aldershot Garrison, also known as Aldershot Military Town, is a major garrison in South East England, between Aldershot and Farnborough in Hampshire. The garrison was established when the War Department bought a large area of land near the vill ...

** 12th (Force Support) Engineer Group, at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

*** 32nd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison *** 36th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at Invicta Park Barracks,

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, linking it wi ...

— regiment doubles as HQ

Royal Gurkha Engineers Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

*** 39th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at

Kinloss Barracks Kinloss Barracks is a military installation located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland. Until 2012 it was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station, RAF Kinloss. History RAF Kinloss The Royal Air Force station ...

, Kinloss *** 71st Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers (V), at Waterloo Lines, Leuchars Station — paired with 32 Engineer Regiment *** 75th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers (V), at

Peninsula Barracks The Peninsula Barracks are a group of military buildings in Winchester, Hampshire. History The barracks, which were originally known as the Upper Barracks, Winchester, were built in the early 20th century on the site of King's House, an unfini ...

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

— paired with 36 Engineer Regiment **

29th (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group The 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group, formerly 29 Engineer Brigade, is an engineer formation of the British Army responsible for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search. Its headquarters were at Aldershot. History The brigade had ...

, at Montgomery House,

*** 660 Signal Troop (EOD),

Royal Corps of Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield commun ...

*** 29 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search) Group Support Unit, at

Carver Barracks Carver Barracks is a British Army base on the former site of RAF Debden, approximately 1 mile north of the village of Debden, in Essex. The nearest town is Saffron Walden. History The airfield was built in 1935–37 and the runways laid in 194 ...

Wimbish Wimbish is a village and civil parish within Uttlesford, in Essex, England. The first recorded mention of the village was in 1042, when it was referred to as Winebisc. It was subsequently referred to as Wimbeis in the Domesday Book. The village h ...

Army Secretariat,
FOI(A) Request in relation to current British Army Garrisons/Installations with Garrison Sergeant Major
s'' (20 March 2018). assets.publishging.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2020. *** 28th Engineer Regiment (Counter-Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear), Royal Engineers, at

Rock Barracks Ministry of Defence Woodbridge or MoD Woodbridge is a military installation located near the town of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, England. The site opened in 2006 and is operated by the British Army and incorporates both Rock Barracks and Woodbridge ...

, Woodbridge (NRBC Defence) **** Falcon Area Surveillance and Reconnaissance Squadron,

Royal Tank Regiment The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

, at Harman Lines,

Warminster Garrison Warminster Garrison is a military garrison of the British Army, on the edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. History The history of Warminster's military garrison can be traced back to Roman Britain, where a small camp was located on t ...

*** 33rd Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search), Royal Engineers, at Carver Barracks, Wimbish *** 35th Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search), Royal Engineers, at Carver Barracks, Wimbish *** 101st (City of London) Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search), Royal Engineers (V), at Hudson House,

Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, includ ...

— paired with 33 Engineer Regiment *** 11th Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment,

Royal Logistic Corps The Royal Logistic Corps provides logistic support functions to the British Army. It is the largest Corps in the Army. History The Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) was formed on 5 April 1993, by the union of five British Army corps: * Royal Engine ...

, at Vauxhall Barracks,

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Oxfordshire and the Historic counties of England, historic county of Berkshire. Didcot is south of Oxford, eas ...

***

1st Military Working Dog Regiment The 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, Royal Army Veterinary Corps is a British Army animal unit. It is responsible for providing trained dogs and handlers to support the main brigade of British troops deployed to Afghanistan in Operation Herri ...

, Royal Army Veterinary Corps, at Saint George's Barracks, North Luffenham (Hybrid) **** 101 Military Working Dog Squadron (V), in

Oakham Oakham is the county town of Rutland in the East Midlands of England, east of Leicester, south-east of Nottingham and west of Peterborough. It had a population of 10,922 in the 2011 census, estimated at 11,191 in 2019. Oakham is to the west o ...

** 170th (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group, at

Chetwynd Barracks Chetwynd Barracks is a military installation at Chilwell in Nottinghamshire. History The Chilwell depot and barracks were built for the Royal Army Ordnance Corps shortly after the First World War on the former site of the National Shell Filling ...

Chilwell Chilwell is a village and residential suburb of Nottingham, in the borough of Broxtowe of Nottinghamshire, west of Nottingham city. Until 1974 it was part of Beeston and Stapleford Urban District, having been in Stapleford Rural District un ...

*** 43 Headquarters and Support Squadron, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell *** 20th Works Group (Air Support), Royal Engineers, at

(Hybrid) **** 510 Specialist Team (Airfields), Royal Engineers (V)Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 335–338. (RE Order of Battle Army 2020) *** 62nd Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell *** 63rd Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell *** 65th Works Group, Royal Engineers (V), at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell *** 66th Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

Official website
{{Current British brigades Engineer brigades of the British Army Military units and formations established in 2005 Royal Engineers